Musings on Recipes, Artisans, Dining and Travel · Mostly Gluten-Free

Rosemary Flatbread Crackers

I was not exaggerating when I told y’all about how, one upon a time, the Cheese Plus cracker aisle was a dangerous place for me. There were bothvarieties of cheese straws, and then there were the rosemary croccantini by La Panzanella, which (shocker) were perfectly suited as a pair for nearly any of their cheeses. The only — well, besides my guilty conscience and all-too-actue memory of ill-feelings that followed — saving grace was the price. Those buggers were pricy!

Toward the end of The Great Pantry Clean Out of 2012 I was really close to a replica — I kneaded some rosemary and thyme into a leftover ball of pizza dough, rolled it out nice and thin and baked ’til crisp. Spread with the last remains of a tub of Cowgirl Creamery fromage blanc and sprinkled with flaky sea salt and coarsely ground pepper it was the highlight of many weeks’ worth of been-there-done-that fare.

A few tweaks to the crust recipe were all it took to make crisp, air pocketed rosemary crackers. The resulting dough is a dream to roll out and cut into long cracker sheets. It was the first batch I made — with an extra tablespoon of water and only a half teaspoon xanthan gum — that I was frustrated with earlier today, not this one. Mercifully, versions 2.0 and 2.1 both came out beautifully crisp and bubbly; exactly what I was looking in a cottage cheese scoop. And while I apparently have a tendency to pair the flatbread with locally produced, fresh cheeses, they can certainly hold their own as an accompaniment to any number of stronger-flavored, aged varieties, or even as a stand-alone snack (which, until I start going to town with toppings, are vegan to boot!).

Instructions

Arrange oven rack on center level, place a large, rimmed baking sheet upside down on the rack. Preheat to 475°F.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together millet flour through rosemary. In a measuring cup with spout, whisk together water through agave. Fit mixer with the paddle attachment, turn to low and pour wet ingredients into the flour mixture. Gradually increase speed to medium and mix for 2 minutes — dough will come together into a ball (it’s going to sound awfully loud and violent, and appear dry at first, but will come together in time — do not add additional water).

Turn dough out onto a millet floured surface. Roll out into a rectangle shape, about 8″ wide and 20″ long and 1/16″ thick. Cut into 2″x8″ strips using a pastry wheel (fluted or straight side, your choice) or sharp knife. Transfer to long sheets of aluminum foil — fit 3 – 4 on a sheet, leaving about 1/2″ of space in between. Knead scraps together and re-roll/cut.

Transfer one aluminum foil sheet with crackers to the preheated sheet pan. Bake on the first side for 2 minutes; flip crackers over (and rotate, if your oven has any hot spots) and bake, keeping a very close eye on them, for another 1 – 2 minutes or until golden brown in spots (some crackers bake more quickly than others, go ahead and remove those before the others). Remove to a cooling rack and cool completely — they will get very crisp once cooled. If desired, use a pastry brush to remove any excess millet flour (leftover from rolling) before serving.